Bonds
by Original Blue
Summary: AU. Friends come and go, but your teammates are forever. T to be safe.
1. The Golden Trio

**Early this year–11/14/10**

**Written a looooooooooooong time ago, and recently re-edited to be published.**

–**Blue**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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**Chapter 1:**

******Uzumaki House: **The Golden Trio

**by Rachel Poulson**

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The two boys wandered across the lawn, their bottle–happy female companion hanging between their shoulders.

"Sasuke! Naruto! Are we home yet?"

The blonde boy laughed and answered in the affirmative. The eldest of the three merely shrugged and sighed, fishing the keys out of his jacket pocket as they approached the wrought iron gate. The lock clicked opened and Sasuke held the door as Naruto carried Sakura into the yard.

The house was stifling, the summer heat finally setting in after weeks of cool rains. Naruto deposited his pink haired friend on the nearest couch, and then went to help Sasuke open windows. An electric fan was dug out of a closet to help air movement.

Eventually, all three sat in the living room as they cooled down. The minutes seemed to drag by, no relief in sight.

With a sigh, Naruto slipped his t–shirt over his head and Sasuke reluctantly unbuttoned the satin shirt he wore. Sakura merely smiled in her drunken stupor and pulled off her jeans, stepping neatly out of them and resuming her cross–legged position, simultaneously ignoring the stairs of her friends. Naruto was openly gawping, but Sasuke did his best not to mentally undress her. However much their hormones might be affecting their thoughts didn't matter; friendship came first.

Sakura leaned back, resting her head on the cool hardwood floor and stared up through their skylight. The boys followed her line of sight, and everything was silent for a moment.

"The moon's beautiful tonight," Naruto commented, and laughed quietly when his only answer was a snore from Sakura.

Sasuke stood and silently slung the sleeping girl over one shoulder, picking up her jeans in his other hand. He exchanged exasperated looks with Naruto and carried her down the hall in a fireman's hold.

As he set her down in bed, her bleary eyes flickered open for a moment. "Sasuke?"

Still leaning over her, frozen, he nodded. She exhaled slowly, brushing her fingertips over one of his pale cheeks.

"You know I used to love you."

Again, hesitating slightly this time, he nodded.

Sakura's bright jade eyes filled with tears as she smiled up at him. "Thank you, Sasuke." She let her eyelids flutter shut as her breathing slowed.

He glanced back at her as he left, knowing what could have been his, and knowing that he'd blown it all in the pursuit of revenge. He grimaced.

Their silences held so many words.


	2. Broken Team

**Early this year–11/14/10**

**Written a looooooooooooong time ago, and recently re-edited to be published.**

–**Blue**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 2:**

**Hebi House: Broken Team**

**by Rachel Poulson**

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"Hey! Sasuke–kun! When will you be home again?" Karin leaned out of the open to yell after him, eyes anxious behind her black-rimmed glasses.

Sasuke looked back in irritation. "Karin, for the last time, I don't live here." He turned back to the gravel path, intent on leaving. The only reason he'd stopped by in the first place was because he really needed to drop off Suigetsu's laptop; his own refused to play DVDs and Sakura had odd notions about the three of them watching movies at the beach.

The silver haired man sitting in the living room snorted. "Yeah, Karin! Sasuke_–kun_ doesn't belong to you. Tragedy isn't it?" Suigetsu smirked as she went red in the face and then ducked to avoid the vase she'd chucked in his direction.

The crash was loud enough to get Juugo's attention. He sat in the garden, holding a bird's nest carefully in one wide palm. Sasuke waved to him as he strode through the gate, and Juugo's face lit up. "Have a good day, Sasuke." The stoic Uchiha nodded in return and swung onto his motorcycle.

Karin sighed, watching him from the window. Suigetsu threw a pillow at her. "Hey Ginger! Don't you ever do anything but stare at Sasuke all day? He's probably tired of it by now."

Growling with irritation, Karin tossed the pillow back to him and went back up to her room. "Where are you going?" He called after her and she flipped him off. Her reply was slightly muffled as she climbed the stairs. "I'm going onto the roof to sunbathe. The weather's too nice to pass up. If Sasuke–kun comes by again, just tell him I'm up there."

_Some sick fantasy of hers,_ Sui thought, thumbing through his magazine on scuba diving. Then again, he wasn't averse to the thought of Karin in a skimpy bathing suit. He grinned; that girl had got _curves. _Even her curves had curves. If she wasn't irritating as hell, Suigetsu might have gone for her.

He turned a page and sipped his fruit juice.

"Suigetsu, I need a drink!"

He rolled his eyes and flipped another page.

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An hour later, he ended up on his balcony, talking in a strained voice to the girl he'd been trying to avoid.

"Karin, it's time to get off the damn roof."

Karin stuck out her tongue at him and turned over. Suigetsu swallowed at the sheer amount of bare skin available to his eyes. _Swimsuits like that should be illegal._

Suigetsu unfortunately had a room with a balcony, and even when he shut the windows and sliding glass door he could still hear her carrying on a one–sided conversation with her Inner Sasuke.

"I'm serious, Karin. You could get skin cancer from this much exposure. Not to mention go blind since you're not wearing polarized sunglasses."

"I put on lots of sunscreen and I had my eyes shut. Besides, the sun brings out my natural highlights." She gestured towards her long hair, which had paled slightly and was pink at the roots and tips.

Suigetsu raised an eyebrow at her freckled complexion. "What will you do if your precious Sasuke–kun decides he likes pale–skinned people? Look how white his skin is; remind you of anyone?" He mimed vampire fangs and to his surprise she giggled.

"Silly, Sasuke–kun loves me! He'll love me no matter how tanned I get."

Finally, sick and tired of the bullshit lies she told herself, Suigetsu looked her right in the eyes. "He'll never love you." He waited for the onslaught of insults, but they never came.

She just stared at him. He watched her face crumple, feeling guilty.

Maybe he had been unnecessarily harsh, but she needed to hear it from someone. She had never openly asked Sasuke about his feelings for her and Juugo was too kindhearted to understand her infatuation. There had to come a time when she realized her place in the scheme of things; it was not next to Sasuke.

She dropped to her knees, clearly undergoing some sort of inner war. _Aw, shit,_ thought Suigetsu, and climbed onto the roof in order to kneel next her.

"Karin, come on, don't take it so badly..." He put an arm around her shoulder. "At least I'll always be here to annoy the hell out of you."

She took off her glasses and wiped her eyes. "You promise?"

He grinned lopsidedly. "You're not getting rid of me that easy."

"Even though we want to kill each other all the time?"

"_Especially_ then. Have I told you how hot you are lately?"

She sniffed. "No. You seemed preoccupied with telling me you hated me and I was going to die of skin cancer."

"Aw, come on, I never said I hated you. But if you don't get inside, you _might_ just die from skin cancer."

Karin pretended to think. "I think you're just trying to take advantage of me." She bit her lip. "Are you saying I should stay like this, but be _inside_ the house?"

He smirked. "All I'm saying is your butt will be inside in thirty seconds, whether or not there is anything covering it."

She giggled. "I never thought I'd say this, but you're corrupting me."

"Me? Corrupting you? You have the most vivid, sickening fantasies of any woman I've ever met, and..." They dropped back onto his balcony and walked into the house together, arguing playfully.

Anything that can be broken can be fixed.


	3. Sand Siblings

**12/17/10**

**I realized today that I had so much planning done for these stories and not a lot of work.**

–**Blue**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

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******Chapter 3:**

******Sabaku House**: Sand Siblings

**by Rachel Poulson**

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Try as she might, Temari could never get her siblings to talk. Sure, they communicated when necessary, such as on shopping day, but their house was a silent one. Silent as the grave.

Then their father died, and none of them knew where to turn. He had been the rock around which they had swirled, the cord which bound them together. Suddenly their relationship, cold from years of disuse, seemed superfluous. They were strangers who had grown up together.

But Temari was stubborn. She tried to make instances where conversation was necessary, breaking things by accident, buying gifts for her brothers, reading books she knew they liked.

Anything to make them speak.

And the effort of so many years began to grate on her. Smiles, once genuine and fierce, had faded even before their father's demise. Her frank manner of speaking, never gentle, became blistering sarcasm, candidness turning to cruelty before their eyes.

...

Tired after a day at the lab, Temari trudged home through the compounds, eyes watching the subtle pattern etched into the paving stones beneath her feet. She didn't look up, knowing the path by heart and caring for little else.

One day there was someone standing there. She waited for a moment, then, seeing no other alternative, looked up at him with exhaustion clear in her deep green eyes.

His eyes, dark as charcoal but gleaming with intelligence, stared back. "Temari."

The boy, now a man, who had beaten her in the university rankings, though he was two years younger. Who had humiliated her by not even showing up to deliver his valedictorian speech. Who had made her suffer her father's disapproval.

She bit the inside of her cheek and sneered. "Shikamaru." She stepped around him.

"Wait, Temari. Do you know where I can find your brother?"

"Which one?" She asked snidely, not bothering to slow down. "I have two, if you recall."

He kept pace with her. "Gaara. He called Naruto, who told me to come here."

"'I am not my brother's keeper.'"

He snorted. "So, what, did you kill him then?"

She stopped short and stared. "What?"

"That quote. It's from the story of Cain and Abel. Cain kills Abel out of jealousy, and when God asks Cain where his brother is, he replies: 'I am not my brother's keeper.'"

She gave him a strange look. "And you took that to mean that I had killed my brother."

"No, Temari, jeeze. It's called a sense of humor? Heard of it?"

She struggled to keep a smile off her face. "Yes, of course. They often scream as I slit their throats."

He chuckled and fell into step beside her. "May I accompany to your house? I got kind of lost when I stepped into the street to look at some clouds."

Temari snorted, finally relaxing. "You stop in the middle of the road to watch clouds and you can't even get yourself hit by a car? I call that inconsiderate."

He grinned. "I'll try to arrange my death in a more timely fashion next time."

...

Kankuro was involved in something a little more carnal in nature. He and Tenten were trying to be quiet in their lovemaking in case her roommates came home and discovered her boyfriend.

"'Kuro!" She gasped as he thrust his hips repeatedly.

He shushed her with a kiss. "Any second, Ten." He held her close as her cries shook them both.

After, they took a moment to breathe, smug in their secrecy.

Then came the ever-dreaded sound of the door below opening.

"–challenge you to eat more sandwiches than me at lunch!"

Tenten sighed. _Same old Lee._

"I will _not_ engage in such a childish display of prowess. I am going to meditate. Lee, try to be quiet while you eat, will you? I'm going to check on Tenten. She should still be studying for her midterms."

Kankuro pulled on his pants and stumbled over to the closet as Tenten frantically hid his shirt under her pillow.

A short knock came, and Neji pulled open the drawer. "Tenten?"

She was sitting at her computer, headset on, fingers tapping out a rhythm on the keyboard. She seemed unaware of his entrance. He opened his mouth to alert her to his presence and choked as he realized she wasn't wearing pants.

"Tenten!"

She glanced up and pulled her earbuds out. "What's up, Neji?"

"You– you're not– your pants," he finished lamely and she smirked.

"Neji, I'm working on homework in my room. I'm allowed to not wear pants."

Red faced, he stalked out, slamming the door behind him.

A moment later Kankuro crept out of the closet and found his shirt under her pillow. He stuffed his cat–eared hat on his head and planted a kiss on her forehead before climbing out the window.

"See you tomorrow, Tenten," he said while hanging off the sill.

She smiled cockily at him. "Bye, 'Kuro."

He jumped into the garden, a grin plastered over his tattooed face

...

Despite his cool demeanor, Gaara enjoyed his siblings' presence. It was a reminder that not all was dull in his world.

He worked the night shift at a coffee shop, and it was nearly two in the morning when he met her. She seemed flustered and tired, obviously a high school student intent on finishing some last bit of homework. She ordered something with caramel and whipped cream and sat down to write an essay. Occasionally something she wrote would bring a smile to her face.

He envied her that.

When his shift finished and she was still there, he made himself some coffee and sat down beside her. "Almost done with that schoolwork?" he asked innocently, sipping from the hot cup gingerly.

She looked up at him, astonished. "School?"

He nodded to the papers in her hands.

She smiled at him. "This isn't homework. I'm a novelist."

He was surprised, and told her so.

"I know," she admitted. "Most people think I'm crazy, but I'm doing what I love. I dropped out of high school a few months ago, and I work on this full time." She gazed lovingly at the loose–leaf papers in her slim fingers. "This will go to the editor next week."

He couldn't keep himself from asking. "What made you want to write?"

"My mother. She was a writer."

"Anyone I would know?"

A sad look passed over her face. "No. My mother never got anything published. She tried for years, but she just wasn't quite good enough..."

"I'm sorry to hear that," he said, admonished for his questions. "I had no intention of prying."

She just laughed. "It's fine. Despite what you might think, it's my mother's failure that made me want to do this. I feel like if I do this now, it will justify the time she spent on it."

Gaara stood and offered to make her another coffee. She accepted.

As he stirred in the caramel, he considered the conversation they'd held. It was interesting, and intelligent, and he was surprised to find that he wanted it to continue. There was a simple happiness in finding the pains and joys of another human being.

He sat back down. "I've just realized – I don't even know your name, but I know so much about you."

She giggled and held out a hand. "I'm Matsuri."

He shook it. "Gaara."

Maybe speaking wasn't so hard after all.


End file.
